The impact of UK agriculture on air quality, public health and sensitive habitats

Ammonia from agriculture forms health-hazardous fine particles and increases ecosystem risk of eutrophication. Despite this, controls on UK agricultural sources are limited to suggested measures to mitigate emissions. To motivate action, we use satellite observations, the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, and contemporary risk-exposure models to evaluate the UK atmospheric emission inventory, determine the influence of rural agriculture on urban particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, and assess the efficacy of legally required and best-available technology on mitigating harm of agricultural ammonia to humans via exposure to PM2.5 and sensitive habitats via nitrogen deposition.